Lions, tigers, and bears

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WanderALot I've run into black bears several times while camping in CA. We usually just made lots of noise and they scampered away. The ones that are used to people tend to take more noise to scare away.... If you are really worried you can get a pepper spray meant for bears. This is what the park rangers carried in Alaska. Of course that was for grizzlies and you have know how to use it properly since you might do more harm than good.

Wander, I just knew you were leading up to the bear bells story.

[SteveR]

Used to backpack and camp in a black bear preserve on TN/NC border. *We saw bears on most trips so got used to precautions. *Black bears (without cubs) will usually stay out of your way and you may never seem them except in the National Parks. *If it is a mother with cub(s) all bets are off. *Making noice and slowly backing away (not running away) was what the rangers used to tell us. *You cannot out run or out climb a bear. *They chase things that run much like a dog does so running away will actually cause them to run after you. *

Most bears will detect you long before you detect them and they will make it a point to avoid you. *However, there are some more civilized ones that have lost their fear of man and will look at you as a vending machine. *They want you to feed them and if you don't they take it personal. *

Some bears have been known to attack humans in tents and campers. *There have been instances of where bears have dragged off people from tents in the middle of the night but these seems to happen with the brown and grizzlies more than the blacks from what I have read. *

Don't mess with bears. *Period. *Any animal that weighs more than 400 lbs. and has 6 inch claws and a nasty attitude is to be avoided. * If you camp in the backcountry in tents remember to hang your food between two skinny trees at least 20 feet in the air and make sure you are upwind when you cook. *If your clothes smell like food they will assume you have food on you. *When you don't they may take exception to your bad manners.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

One of the parks near here had a problem with bears that were ripping up only (IIRC) hondas. Apparently some people driving hondas parked and left food in them, after that the bears presumed the hondas were where they could expect to find food.

Ripped the roofs right off of them.

A dissenting opinion...

http://www.cnn.com/US/9901/19/black.bears/